Susan Schofer, Partner at SOSV and Chief Science Officer at HAX provides a fascinating look at how scientists transition into entrepreneurs, identifying key traits that contribute to the success of scientific founders in the startup world.

We dive into the concept of "Industrial Independence" and its global impact, alongside insights into the US-China trade war's effect on tech startups. Susan discusses the unique challenges of a Chief Science Officer in driving hard tech innovations and the journey from scientific discovery to entrepreneurship.

The conversation also highlights the transformative potential of synthetic biology and the obstacles in scaling new materials. Susan offers her perspective on the evolving climate technology landscape, emphasizing the significance of localized production and innovation.Whether you're a professional in the tech industry, a budding entrepreneur, or simply a curious mind passionate about sustainability, this episode is packed with thought-provoking discussions and insights.About VSC Ventures:VSC Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund led by Jay Kapoor and Vijay Chattha where we invest in industrial automation and climate adaptation startups and support our founders with hands-on PR, storytelling, and go-to-market work with help from our award-winning PR agency VSCOur fund has invested alongside Lowercarbon, NEA, Uncork Capital, Left Lane, Alley Corp, Obvious Ventures, Third Sphere, and other leading early-stage funds.Through our weekly conversations on our show CLIMB by VSC, we're excited to share our work with innovative companies like Paintjet, Glacier, Concrete.AI, Presso, ⁠⁠Ample⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Actual⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Sesame Solar⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Synop⁠⁠, ⁠and Vibrant Planet⁠⁠ in addition to highlighting companies and leading voices across the early stage ecosystem